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This recipe is by no means a traditional cream cheese recipe. It’s essentially a combination of labneh, which is a creamy and spreadable strained yogurt, and low fat cream cheese. When you mix the two together, you get a low fat, high protein spread with the same thick and creamy texture as cream cheese, for less than half the calories.
You only need 4 ingredients: fat free Greek yogurt and salt, which are used to make the labneh, and milk and vinegar, which are used to make the cream cheese. Then, you’ll blend those two together and you’ll have a large batch of homemade cream cheese ready to go. You can season it with extra salt to taste if you’re using it in savory recipes, or leave it as is for sweet recipes.
The recipe below makes a big batch and stays good in the fridge in an airtight container for up to 7 days, but you can easily divide the recipe in half for a smaller batch.
Low Fat, High Protein 4 Ingredient Homemade Cream Cheese
Equipment
- 1 saucepan
- 1 food processor or blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- ½ tsp salt, plus more to taste
- 6 cups 2% milk
- 6 tbsp white vinegar (lemon juice works too; see Note 1)
Instructions
- Start by making the labneh the night before: in a medium bowl, mix together the Greek yogurt and ½ tsp salt
- Scoop the mixture onto a cheesecloth and tie it tightly around a wooden spoon, then place it over a bowl (make sure there is a lot of space between the cheesecloth and the bottom)
- Place the bowl in the fridge and let sit overnight (the whey will separate from the yogurt)
- Next, make the cream cheese; add the milk to a large saucepan and bring to a simmer over low heat (about 190℉ or when you see small bubbles; don't let it boil)
- Turn off the heat and slowly pour in the vinegar while stirring constantly; it will start to curdle right away
- Remove from heat and let sit for 10 minutes
- Place a cheesecloth over a strainer and a large bowl and pour out the contents of the saucepan to separate the curds from the whey (you can use the leftover whey to make caramel!)
- Combine the curds and the labneh in a food processor or blender and blend until smooth (if it's too thick, you can add a tbsp or 2 of milk but if you use a strong blender you shouldn't need to)
- Optionally season with more salt to taste then transfer to an airtight container and use for any recipes that require cream cheese
Notes
Nutrition
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